CHAPTER III.
THE TERRIBLE FIRE.
Fire rages with fury wherever it comes, If only one spark should be dropped; Whole houses, or cities, sometimes it consumes, Where its violence cannot be stopped.
One night, about eight o'clock, Harry and Laura were playing in thenursery, building houses with bricks, and trying who could raise thehighest tower without letting it fall, when suddenly they were startledto hear every bell in the house ringing violently, while the servantsseemed running up and down stairs, as if they were distracted.
"What can be the matter!" cried Laura, turning round and listening,while Harry quietly took this opportunity to shake the walls of hercastle till it fell.
"The very house is coming down about your ears, Laura!" said Harry,enjoying his little bit of mischief. "I should like to be Andrew, now,for five minutes, that I might answer those fifty bells, and see whathas happened. Uncle David must be wanting coals, candles, tea, toast,and soda water, all at once! What a bustle everybody is in! There! thebells are ringing again, worse than ever! Something wonderful is goingon! what can it be!"
Presently Betty ran breathlessly into the room, saying that Mrs.Crabtree ought to come down stairs immediately, as Lady Harriet had beensuddenly taken very ill, and, till the Doctor arrived, nobody knew whatto do, so she must give her advice and assistance.
Harry and Laura felt excessively shocked to hear this alarming news, andlistened with grave attention, while Mrs. Crabtree told them howamazingly well they ought to behave in her absence, when they weretrusted alone in the nursery, with nobody to keep them in order, or tosee what they were doing, especially now, as their grandmama had beentaken ill, and would require to be kept quiet.
Harry sat in his chair, and might have been painted as the very pictureof a good boy during nearly twenty minutes after Mrs. Crabtree departed;and Laura placed herself opposite to him, trying to follow so excellentan example, while they scarcely spoke above a whisper, wondering whatcould be the matter with their grandmama, and wishing for once, to seeMrs. Crabtree again, that they might hear how she was. Any one who hadobserved Harry and Laura at that time, would have wondered to see twosuch quiet, excellent, respectable children, and wished that all littleboys and girls were made upon the same pattern; but presently they beganto think that probably Lady Harriet was not so very ill, as no morebells had rung during several minutes, and Harry ventured to look aboutfor some better amusement than sitting still.
At this moment Laura unluckily perceived on the table near where theysat, a pair of Mrs. Crabtree's best scissors, which she had beenpositively forbid to touch. The long troublesome ringlets were as usualhanging over her eyes in a most teazing manner, so she thought what agood opportunity this might be to shorten them a very little, not abovean inch or two; and without considering a moment longer, she slippedupon tiptoe, with a frightened look, round the table, and picked up thescissors in her hand, then hastening towards a looking-glass, she begansnipping off the ends of her hair. Laura was much diverted to see itshowering down upon the floor, so she cut and cut on, while the curlsfell thicker and faster, till at last the whole floor was covered withthem, and scarcely a hair left upon her head. Harry went into fits oflaughing when he perceived what a ridiculous figure Laura had made ofherself, and he turned her round and round to see the havoc she hadmade, saying,
"You should give all this hair to Mr. Mills the upholsterer, to stuffgrandmama's arm-chair with! At any rate, Laura, if Mrs. Crabtree is everso angry, she can hardly pull you by the hair of the head again! What asound sleep you will have to-night, with no hard curl-papers to tormentyou!"
Harry had been told five hundred times, never to touch the candles, andthreatened with twenty different punishments, if he ever ventured to doso; but now, he amused himself with trying to snuff one till he snuffedit out. Then he lighted it again, and tried the experiment once more,but again the teazing candle went out, as if on purpose to plague him,so he felt quite provoked. Having lighted it once more, Harry preparedto carry the candlestick with him towards the inner nursery, thoughafraid to make the smallest noise, in case it might be taken from him.Before he had gone five steps, down dropped the extinguisher, thenfollowed the snuffers with a great crash, but Laura seemed too busycropping her ringlets, to notice what was going on. All the way alongupon the floor, Harry let fall a perfect shower of hot wax, whichspotted the nursery carpet from the table where he had found the candleinto the next room, where he disappeared, and shut the door, that no onemight interfere with what he liked to do.
After he had been absent some time, the door was hastily opened again,and Laura felt surprised to see Harry come back with his face as red asa stick of sealing-wax, and his large eyes staring wider than they hadever stared before, with a look of rueful consternation.
"What is the matter!" exclaimed Laura in a terrified voice. "Hasanything dreadful happened? Why do you look so frightened and sosurprised?"
"Oh dear! oh dear! what shall I do?" cried Harry, who seemed scarcely toknow how he spoke, or where he was. "I don't know what to do, Laura!"
"What can be the matter! do tell me at once, Harry," said Laura, shakingwith apprehension. "Speak as fast as you can!"
"Will you not tell Mrs. Crabtree, nor grandmama, nor anybody else?"cried Harry, bursting into tears. "I am so very, very sorry, and sofrightened! Laura! do you know, I took a candle into the next room,merely to play with it."
"Well! go on, Harry! go on! what did you do with the candle?"
"I only put it on the bed for a single minute, to see how the flamewould look there,--well! do you know it blazed away famously, and thenall the bed clothes began burning too! Oh! there is such a terrible firein the next room! you never saw anything like it! what shall we do? Ifold Andrew were to come up, do you think he could put it out? I haveshut the door that Mrs. Crabtree may not see the flames. Be sure, Laura,to tell nobody but Andrew."
Laura became terrified at the way she saw poor Harry in, but when sheopened the door to find out the real state of affairs, oh! what adreadful sight was there! all the beds were on fire, while bright redflames were blazing up to the roof of the room, with a fierce roaringnoise, which it was perfectly frightful to hear. She screamed aloud withterror at this alarming scene, while Harry did all he could to quiether, and even put his hand over her mouth, that her cries might not beheard. Laura now struggled to get loose, and called louder and louder,till at last every maid in the house came racing up stairs, three stepsat a time, to know what was the matter. Immediately upon seeing theflames, they all began screaming too, in such a loud discordant way,that it sounded as if a whole flight of crows had come into thepassages. Never was there such an uproar heard in the house before, forthe walls echoed with a general cry of "Fire! fire! fire!"
Up flew Mrs. Crabtree towards the nursery like a sky-rocket, scoldingfuriously, talking louder than all the others put together, and askingwho had set the house on fire, while Harry and Laura scarcely knewwhether to be most frightened for the raging flames, or the raging Mrs.Crabtree; but, in the meantime, they both shrunk into the smallestpossible size, and hid themselves behind a door.
During all this confusion, Old Andrew luckily remembered, that, in themorning, there had been a great washing in the laundry, where large tubsfull of water were standing, so he called to the few maids who had anyof their senses remaining, desiring them to assist in carrying up somebuckets, that they might be emptied on the burning beds, to extinguishthe flames if possible. Every body was now in a hurry, and all elbowingeach other out of the way, while it was most extraordinary to see howold Andrew exerted himself, as if he had been a fireman all his life,while Mrs. Marmalade, the fat cook, who could hardly carry herself upstairs in general, actively assisted to bring up the great heavy tubs,and to pour them out like a cascade upon the burning curtains, till thenursery-floor looked like a duck pond.
Meantime Harry and Laura added to the confusion as much as they could,and were busier than anybody, stealing down the back-stairs wh
eneverMrs. Crabtree was not in sight, and filling their little jugs withwater, which they brought up, as fast as possible, and dashed upon theflames, till at last, it is to be feared, they began to feel quiteamused with the bustle, and to be almost sorry when the conflagrationdiminished. At one time, Laura very nearly set her own frock on fire, asshe ventured too near, but Harry pulled her back, and then courageouslyadvanced to discharge a shower from his own little jug, remainingstationary to watch the effect, till his face was almost scorched.
At last the fire became less and less, till it went totally out, but notbefore the nursery furniture had been reduced to perfect ruins, besideswhich, Betty had her arm sadly burned in the confusion. Mrs. Marmalade'scap was completely destroyed, and Mrs. Crabtree's best gown had so largea hole burned in the skirt, that she never could wear it again!
After all was quiet, and the fire completely extinguished, Major Grahamtook Laura down stairs to Lady Harriet's dressing-room, that she mighttell the whole particulars of how this alarming accident happened in thenursery, for nobody could guess what had caused so sudden and dreadful afire, which seemed to have been as unexpected as a flash of lightning.
Lady Harriet had felt so terrified by the noise and confusion, that shewas out of bed, sitting up in an arm-chair, supported by pillows, whenLaura entered, at the sight of whom, with her well-cropped head, shemade an exclamation of perfect amazement.
"Why! who on earth is that! Laura! my dear child! what has become of allyour hair? Were your curls burned off in the fire? or did the frightmake you grow bald? What is the meaning of all this?"
Laura turned perfectly crimson with shame and distress, for she now feltconvinced of her own great misconduct about the scissors and curls, butshe had been taught on all occasions to speak the truth, and wouldrather have died than told a lie, or even allowed any person to believewhat was not true, therefore she answered in a low, frightened voice,while the tears came into her eyes, "My hair has not been burned off,grandmama! but--but--"
"Well, child! speak out!" said Lady Harriet, impatiently, "did somehair-dresser come to the house and rob you?"
"Or are you like the ladies of Carthage who gave their long hair forbows and arrows?" asked Major Graham. "I never saw such a little frightin my life as you look now; but tell us all about it?"
"I have been quite as naughty as Harry!" answered Laura, bursting intotears and sobbing with grief; "I was cutting off my hair with Mrs.Crabtree's scissors all the time that he was setting the nursery onfire!"
"Did any mortal ever hear of two such little torments!" exclaimed MajorGraham, hardly able to help laughing. "I wonder if anybody else in theworld has such mischievous children!"
"It is certainly very strange, that you and Harry never can contrive tobe three hours out of a scrape!" said Lady Harriet gravely; "now Frank,on the contrary, never forgets what I bid him do. You might suppose hecarried Mrs. Crabtree in his pocket, to remind him constantly of hisduty; but there are not two such boys in the world as Frank!"
"No," added Major Graham; "Harry set the house on fire, and Frank willset the Thames on fire!"
When Laura saw uncle David put on one of his funny looks, while he spokein this way to Lady Harriet, she almost forgot her former fright, andbecame surprised to observe her grandmama busy preparing what she calleda coach-wheel, which had been often given as a treat to Harry andherself when they were particularly good. This delightful wheel wasmanufactured by taking a whole round slice of the loaf, in the centre ofwhich was placed a large tea-spoonful of jelly, after which long spokesof marmalade, jam, and honey, were made to diverge most tastefully inevery direction towards the crust, and Laura watched the progress ofthis business with great interest and anxiety, wondering if it could behoped that her grandmama really meant to forgive all her misconductduring the day.
"That coach-wheel is, of course, meant for me!" said Major Graham,pretending to be very hungry, and looking slyly at Laura; "It cannotpossibly be intended for our little hair-dresser here!"
"Yes, it is!" answered Lady Harriet, smiling. "I have some thoughts ofexcusing Laura this time, because she always tells me the truth, withoutattempting to conceal any foolish thing she does. It will be very longbefore she has any hair to cut off again, so I hope she may be older andwiser by that time, especially considering that every looking-glass shesees for six months will make her feel ashamed of herself. She certainlydeserves some reward for having prevented the house to-night from beingburned to the ground."
"I am glad you think so, because here is a shilling that has beenburning in my pocket for the last few minutes, as I wished to bestow iton Laura for having saved all our lives, and if she had behaved stillbetter, I might perhaps have given her a gold watch!"
Laura was busily employed in eating her coach-wheel, and trying to fancywhat the gold watch would have looked like which she might probably havegot from uncle David, when suddenly the door burst open, and Mrs.Crabtree hurried into the room, with a look of surprise and alarm, herface as red as a poppy, and her eye fixed on the hole in her best gown,while she spoke so loud and angrily, that Laura almost trembled.
"If you please, my lady! where can Master Harry be? I cannot find him inany corner!--we have been searching all over the house, up stairs anddown stairs, in vain. Not a garret or a closet but has been ransacked,and nobody can guess what has become of him!"
"Did you look up the chimney, Mrs. Crabtree?" asked Major Graham,laughing to see how excited she looked.
"Indeed, Sir! it is no joke," answered Mrs. Crabtree, sulkily; "I amalmost afraid Master Harry has been burned in the fire! The last timeBetty saw him, he was throwing a jug of water into the flames, and noone has ever seen or heard of him since! There is a great many ashes andcinders lying about the room, and----"
"Do you think, in sober seriousness, Mrs. Crabtree, that Harry wouldmelt away like a wax doll, without asking any body to extinguish him?"said Major Graham, smiling. "No! no! little boys are not quite so easilydisposed of. I shall find Harry in less than five minutes, if he isabove ground."
But uncle David was quite mistaken in expecting to discover Harry soeasily, for he searched and searched in vain. He looked into everypossible or impossible place--the library, the kitchen, the garrets, thelaundry, the drawing-room, all without success,--he peeped under thetables, behind the curtains, over the beds, beneath the pillows, andinto Mrs. Crabtree's bonnet-box,--he even opened the tea-chest, andlooked out at the window, in case Harry had tumbled over, but nowherecould he be found.
"Not a mouse is stirring!" exclaimed Major Graham, beginning now to lookexceedingly grave and anxious. "This is very strange! The house-door islocked, therefore, unless Harry made his escape through the key-hole, hemust be here! It is most unaccountable what the little pickle can havedone with himself!"
When Major Graham chose to exert his voice, it was as loud as a trumpet,and could be heard half a mile off; so he now called out, like thunder,from the top of the stairs to the bottom, saying, "Hollo, Harry! hollo!Come here, my boy! Nobody shall hurt you! Harry! where are you!"
Uncle David waited to listen, but all was still,--no answer could beheard, and there was not a sound in the house, except poor Laura at thebottom of the stairs, sobbing with grief and terror about Harry havingbeen lost, and Mrs. Crabtree grumbling angrily to herself, on account ofthe large hole in her best gown.
By this time Lady Harriet nearly fainted with fatigue, for she was sovery old, and had been ill all day; so she grew worse and worse, tilleverybody said she must go to bed, and try if it would be possible tofall asleep, assuring her that Harry must soon be found, as nothingparticular could have happened to him, or some person would have seenit.
"Indeed, my lady! Master Harry is just like a bad shilling that is sureto come back," said Mrs. Crabtree, helping her to undress, while shecontinued to talk the whole time about the fire, showing her ownunfortunate gown, describing the trouble she had taken to save the housefrom being burned, and always ending every sentence with a wish that shecould
lay her hands on Harry to punish him as he deserved.
"The truth is, I just spoil and indulge the children too much, my lady!"added Mrs. Crabtree, in a self-satisfied tone of voice. "I really blamemyself often for being over easy and kind."
"You have nothing to accuse yourself of in that respect," answered LadyHarriet, unable to help smiling.
"Your ladyship is very good to say so. Major Graham is so fond of ouryoung people, that it is lucky they have some one to keep them in order.I shall make a duty, my lady, of being more strict than ever. MasterHarry must be made an example of this time!" added Mrs. Crabtree,angrily glancing at the hole in her gown. "I shall teach him toremember this day the longest hour he has to live!"
"Harry will not forget it any how," answered Lady Harriet languidly."Perhaps, Mrs. Crabtree, we might as well not be severe with the poorboy on this occasion. As the old proverb says, 'there is no use inpouring water on a drowned mouse.' Harry has got a sad fright for hispains, and at all events you must find him first, before he can bepunished. Where can the poor child be hid?"
"I would give sixpence to find out that, my lady!" answered Mrs.Crabtree, helping Lady Harriet into bed, after which she closed theshutters, put out the candles, and left the room, angrily muttering,"Master Harry cares no more for me than the poker cares for the tongs,but I shall teach him another story soon."
Lady Harriet now feebly closed her eyes, being quite exhausted, and wasbeginning to feel the pleasant, confused sensation that people havebefore going to sleep, when some noise made her suddenly start quiteawake. She sat up in bed to listen, but could not be sure whether it hadbeen a great noise at a distance, or a little noise in the room; soafter waiting two or three minutes, she sunk back upon the pillows, andtried to forget it. Again, however, she distinctly heard somethingrustling in the bed curtains, and opened her eyes to see what could bethe matter, but all was dark. Something seemed to be breathing very nearher, however, and the curtains shook worse than before, till LadyHarriet became really alarmed.
"It must surely be a cat in the room!" thought she, hastily pulling thebell rope, till it nearly came down. "That tiresome little animal willmake such a noise, I shall not be able to sleep all night!"
The next minute Lady Harriet was startled to hear a loud sob closebeside her; and when everybody rushed up stairs to ask what was thematter, they brought candles to search the room, and there was Harry!He lay doubled up in a corner, and crying as if his heart would break,yet still endeavouring not to be seen; for Harry always thought it aterrible disgrace to cry, and would have concealed himself anywhere,rather than be observed weeping. Laura burst into tears also, when shesaw what red eyes and pale cheeks Harry had; but Mrs. Crabtree lost notime in pulling him out of his place, being quite impatient to begin herscold, and to produce her tawse, though she received a saddisappointment on this occasion, as uncle David unexpectedly interferedto get him off.
"Come now, Mrs. Crabtree," said he good-naturedly; "put up the tawse forthis time; you are rather too fond of the leather. Harry seems reallysorry and frightened, so we must be merciful. That cataract of tears heis shedding now, would have extinguished the fire if it had come intime! Harry is like a culprit with the rope about his neck; but he shallnot be executed. Let me be judge and jury in this case; and my sentenceis a very dreadful one. Harry must sleep all to-night in the burnednursery, having no other covering than the burned blankets, with largeholes in them, that he may never forget
"THE TERRIBLE FIRE!"
Holiday House: A Series of Tales Page 4